The Importance Of Being Ernest Alfred Viztelly

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've finished reading With Zola in England by Ernest Alfred Viztelly. An account of Zola's exile in England when he was being arrested in France for the Dreyfus affair which was published in 1899.

The book is an amalgam of articles Viztelly, a journalist, wrote about how he helped Zola in this time in the London Evening News.

It was an interesting read in many ways. It's Victorian Britain yet there are still issues of media attention as well as the fear of Zola being apprehended against his will and taken back home to France.

But what makes this book really important is when you compare the attitudes of turn of the century Britain to the present day. Whilst obviously Zola is a "celebrity", did not have a physically (though obviously emotionally) traumatic journey to England, had rich friends to help him and was living in relative comfort it is still the case that this was a Britain that took in asylum seekers.

If Zola had lived today the jackboot media would have questioned why he was in Britain, mocked any friends that dared to assist this drain on Britain's resources, would have made anywhere he resided appear like Buckingham Palace, condemned his lack of English and would have only welcomed him if he attacked the European union from the highest mountain.

What this would have done is that less people would have helped him settle in a foreign land and the jackboot journalism rabble rousing would have also made him venerable to abuse and possible attack from the feral amongst us.

For obviously accepting that security checks on asylum seekers need to made the attitude of Britain now to asylum seekers is cold and cruel. It will also damage Britain in the long term in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Britain was the country that let in Karl Marx. It will be given no marks for what it's doing now.

So Ernest Alfred Viztelly, a man who was proud of Britain's then attitude to asylum seekers and who helped a friend in need.He is the type of Great Briton that we should follow.

The next book on the great ebook unread is Keeper Of The Peace by Edgar Wallace. It's not clear what the plot's about and I must admit that it's a long time since I've read an Edgar Wallace book (such a long time ago I can't remember what I thought of it) so am curious to read one now.

Until the next time.